Monday, December 28, 2009

OK so its been a pretty dismal workout log since Vegas. After the trip and the run I totally concentrated on finishing up some work and getting ready for Christmas. I didnt do a single thing as far as working out and running. Just cant wrap my mind around it all. Sometimes I needed the physical activity to feel better but just wouldnt take the time to do it.

Yesterday (27th) I did get back out for a run. It wasnt anything special just 4 miles of comfortable running. Just keep going until spring and real training begins.

Monday, December 14, 2009

Only taking a week to get this done; not very photo heavy because there was no one there to take photos :) the ones the photographers took were great but way too expensive. Even for this once in a lifetime chance.This is the first time the RnR people did the Vegas run and consensus was they did a good job despite the complaints I heard AND the freaking long long wait to get going.

The Race Expo was awesome. The dinner...was ok. But the expo had tonnes of stuff to see and do and we only saw a bit of it despite going the day it opened when there were fewer people there. It was a long walk from our room (albeit all inside hehe.)We got up at about 430 am to get ready. The night before we did the gear checks and pinned bibs on and got mostly ready; Ive never been so ready. I got up and the first thing I did was go get coffee. I need to start with coffee. Got to get things moving ;) The lobby was absolutely full of runners. I know I had seen a lot of them around but this was like they were all there waiting to get going. Some were actually running. I was in jammies getting coffee hehe.So we did get presentable looking and climbed into more or less appropriate running clothes, we were not really dressed for the weather as I really was not expecting to be running at 0 C! In Vegas! It was COLD. I wore shorts and a tank top and a long sleeved shirt; I also had a fleece coat I could "toss away" when finally warmed up as there no one to grab stuff. I tossed a pair of gloves too; I hate running with hot hands haha. I wore the Canada running hat Scott got for me to wear; bright red is hard to miss ;) CHILL.

We didnt check any bags at the bag check but carried all we needed; we walked to the race start getting there in plenty of time and at this time wewere a little confused about where we should go; there were lines for the bag drop off and on the other side, over a bank, behind the portapotties, there were corrals set up. We were supposed to be in corral 17 but this confusion left people wandering and it was obvious as soon as the race started that people were not where they should be, as they were totally walking from the start. SIGH. The gun went off and there were fireworks for a good 15 minutes which was nice but it was dark and it was cold and we waited for our chance to go for like 45 minutes! By the time we went we were cold and stiff and not well warmed up. And it was the slowest start ever! Once we got to the start and began jogging we had to pass many many people who were jogging and walking and TEXTING yes texting or even talking on Cell phones. Although it was nice to be passing people it was also frustrating and we spent a lot of time running up on the edges of the road or diving to avoid people who stopped in the middle of the road to text or rest. It was like this the entire 21.1 km. Honestly. Great mentally to be passing people all the way but very frustrating to be passing people all the way. that is why they set people up in corrals; to avoid the start stop confusion. I didnt love that.

The route took us out of town for a bit (desert running; very cool) and then back up the strip; this was awesome. Even with the passing and texting ;) Always something awesome to see. The water stops were out of water very quickly and people totally rude about crossing in front and stopping to drink RIGHT in front rather than moving off to a side.Because of this I dont think I stopped for water/Cytomax (sport drink) often enough. Was pretty nauseous later. I also didnt have anything to eat; no Jelly beans or anything just a bite of fruit bar and that didnt go down so well. I really like something in my stomach to settle it and that added to the nausea felt later. I dont mind pushing it to get a better time but I should have also added some food during that running part. LOL Missed my oatmeal bar.Past the strip (and that tower - Stratosphere I see its called) it was a little shady; kinda empty and people were peeing on the sides of the road; I did think I smelled a little too much sewer while running ;) this was where we turned and came back around to running on the strip again. Second time was not as fun; starting to feel things a little too much ;) It was interesting to see how many people were behind us; thousands.Annie really encouraged me through the last 3 miles or so; it was awesome to have someone to run with; she set a good pace for the end (even tho I know I held her back) and helped me get to the end still running hard; with a time that was 7 minutes faster than my previous best! at 2:17 dead on, we were in the top half of the race!

17880 finishers

11356 of those female :)I was 7305 overall...3579 of the women...

Ill break it down when my Garmin is near ;)After the finish we kept moving; picked up the medal ITS AN AWESOME MEDAL and moved on to the food area where rock hard bagels and an assortment of snacks were offered up PLUS water thank goodness lol and then we kept moving to the hotel and back to our room. We showered and slept for a bit before heading for the hot tub downstairs. All in all didnt feel toooo bad.It was an awesome race and an awesome experience and I was really lucky to be able to go thanks to the help of Scott and some good friends :) and Lucky to experience it wish Annie who continues to be a wonderful friend despite 8 years passing since we last saw each other. Im already looking forward to the next time :):)

Thursday, December 10, 2009

After a long run of 12.8 km on Monday I didnt run again until Thursday, before leaving for Las Vegas. It was dark and cool in the morning when I went and it was nice although running those roads in the dark isnt my favorite thing to do. 4.9 nice slow km and I was ready to go! Everything packed up and in the car, work finished, off to Vegas!Trip was stressful because of the unfamiliar nature of flying standby which Im now familiar with lol I snoozed a little on the second flight, and by the time I landed in Vegas it was almost 11 their time which is almost 3 am our time; awake for alomst 24 hours and really tired.

What an exciting city; I couldnt sleep at all for ages. Annie was out so I took some photos out the room window and went to bed; only because I was sure I wuld feel awful the next day if I did not.

Morning got up and Went for coffee at about 630 Vegas time. Was good. Annie wasnt feeling well so I went for a run at about 8 to loosen up and stretch. Again just easy running, 5.6 km at a really easy pace. I didnt know my way around so I tried to keep things in sight like familiar landmarks (hotel, MGM Grand, mountains on the same side...) and I didnt get lost. I crossed a few over the street walkways and circled the Block our hotel was on (5.6 km...big block) went around the Excalibur, the Luxor, and Mandalay Bay. At one point the city kinda ended and it was like running in desert. It was beautiful, not too hot, and absolutely awesome for running. Couldnt wait for the half to come! Decided to rest HAHA til then.

That afternoon Annie felt better so we went for a walk through the hotels; we could go through 3 without going outside; we shopped a little and then went to the Race expo (so walked that way twice) which is a lot of walking lol

Race Expo was really excellent with loads of stuff to see and buy. I wanted to buy a sweater like Annie's at Adidas but they were all gone by the time I went there. And there wasnt anything at the expo I could afford. Ok I didnt look hard enough either ;) It was late and we had to leave.

Next day was Saturday and instead of resting we went walking around lol. It was really nice. We went to Adidas and we went to the M and M World and bought candy; Got some facial stuff at Lush and at the least had an early evening.